Photo Credit: Mike Rowse

Americans are learning Thursday morning that while thegovernment shutdown is over for now, billions of dollars in “pork-barrel” projects went into the newstopgap spending bill passed by Congress Wednesday night.

The most expensive is the estimated $3 billion now going to fund a dam project on the Ohio River, “portions of which flow through Illinois and Kentucky, states represented by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky,” ABC News reported.

Dubbed by some as the “Kentucky kickback,” $2.2 billion is the amount now authorized for the river projects, up from the original $775 million allowed, bringing the grand total close to $3 billion.

According to CNN:

Sounds kinda fishy, but a Democratic senate aid and a Republican senator say it’s on the level. The aide tells CNN that McConnell didn’t push for the project to be included. And Sen. Lamar Alexander, who’s a key figure on the committee that oversees what water projects get what money, says he and another senator asked for the cash. He tells CNN’s Chris Frates the new money — which more than triples the original $775 million — will save the federal government many millions because contracts won’t be canceled due to work stoppages. Still, the Senate Conservatives Fund calls the money a “Kentucky Kickback.”

U.S. Sen. John McCain blasted the dam project, saying he never even heard of it before.

“These people are like alcoholics. They can’t resist taking a drink. It’s ridiculous. It’s absolutely ridiculous,” McCain told the Daily Beast, according to CNN. “It shows that there are people in this body who are willing to use any occasion to get an outrageous pork-barrel project done at the cost of millions and millions of dollars. It’s disgusting.”

Other pork-barrel provisions included death benefits for the widow of deceased U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, “$450 million for rebuilding projects in flood-struck areas of Colorado,” and the following reported by CNN:

There were more agencies that got big money in the bill. Agencies that fight wildfires could get as much as $636 million, depending on how bad it gets in the next year. The mine safety department is getting a bump in the fees it can keep, a $1 million increase to $2.49 million. A watchdog group meant to guard Americans’ right to privacy against overreach by government cyberintelligence will get $3.1 million, which they could use considering the year they’ve had dealing with revelations about the super-secret National Security Agency’s programs. The Hill, a political newspaper, reports that’s double the top amount the five-member panel has been given before.

Related: Bill to re-open government includes payout to widow of NJ senator

More from CNN.

I’ve been meaning to write about this last week, but got sidetracked; the Tea Party is alive and well. While the movement has been placed in the crosshairs of the GOP establishmentand the business community, it overall enjoys a decent size amount of support amongst Americans.

In a Washington Post/ ABC News Poll published on November 19, it found that support for the Tea Party is around 38%, which is slightly lower than Obama’s own approval rating of 41%.

Additionally, William Jacobson at Legal Insurrection noted:

Moreover, 46% think the Tea Party has too little/just about right influence versus 43% who think it has too much influence. 49% think the Tea Party political views are about right or too liberal, versus only 40% who think too conservative.

It’s clear that support for Tea Party political views exceeds support for the movement, likely the result of years of demonization, culiminating [sic] in the recent Democratic Party eliminationist rhetoric directed at the Tea Party.

Also, 83% of those with a college degree, or some college education, view the Tea Party favorably.

Granted, we’re not the majority of the Republican base – yet. But it shows that the establishment folks still need to deal with us concerning fighting the institutional left – and promoting the conservative agenda. We’re a sizable constituency, and the GOP risks losing all they’ve gained if they declare war on the conservative wing of the Republican Party.

Nevertheless, the recent government shutdown wasn’t the death knell for the Tea Party. If anything, it’s re-energized it just in time for the 2014 midterms. Millions of Americans have lost their health care coverage due to Obamacare. That’s a lot of angry voters for us to mobilize. It’s “an army” that could turn next year into a landslide victory for Republicans.

Additionally, the goal of delaying Obamacare for a year, which Senate Democrats rejected during the October shutdown, is looking more palatable to them. Even Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) – a staunch liberal – is open to delaying the individual mandate. In the end, the Tea Party won the long game.

Either way it’s a victory. For starters, delaying the individual mandate could unravel the whole law. There’s no way the president can come out looking good concerning the rollout of Obamacare. Obama’s incompetence has already begun to chip away at his party’s chances of maintaining their majority in the U.S. Senate. Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC) has seen her 12 to 17 point lead evaporate in a left-leaning PPP poll earlier this month.

Republicans are keeping the House; that’s a given. If the GOP retakes the Senate, it’s the end of the Obama agenda. The GOP needs six seats – and six of those races happen to be in states where Romney won by 10+ points or more in 2012. Can you say perfect opportunity?

Yes, as of now, I’m very optimistic that 2014 will be a very good year for conservatives. But we’re going to need the Tea Party to achieve that goal.

http://noodlepundit.com/yeah-the-tea-party-isnt-going-away/